With CyanogenMod, I don’t have that strong urge to replace the default launcher. The app drawer is more organized and quick to navigate. A search bar at the top lets you search only for apps. The letters at the bottom skip to those parts of the list. I also prefer the transparent background over solid white, though this is a matter of taste.

Even better, you can tweak any aspect of this drawer. You can turn off the alphabetical categorization. The search bar can disappear. And yes, you can make the background white if you prefer.

There’s also the option to make icons larger. This is a visual tweak I’m fond of even with great eyesight. Plus you can hide apps from your drawer without having to install anything extra.

2. Configure Lockscreen Options

Customization matters for reasons more than mere personal preference. Some changes are a matter of security.

Take the lockscreen. Android comes with three methods of unlocking a device: password, pin, or pattern. Passwords offer the most variations, but patterns are easier to enter.

Most Android devices let you toggle whether to show the pin or pattern, but that is where the choices stop.

For PINs, CyanogenMod 13 can scramble the location of numbers each time you turn on the screen. With patterns, you can increase the grid size from 3×3 up to 6×6. This multiplies the possible combinations many times over. You can then make the dots invisible and enter the pattern based on haptic feedback, so no one knows how many dots there are.

Some people may view these options as infuriating or impractical. Others appreciate having more ways to protect the data on their most personal device. To each their own. Having these few extra options gives people more space to create a method that’s right for them.

3. Hide Status Icons

Phone manufacturers and carriers love cramming extra icons into the status bar. My old Sprint HTC One had icons to show that I had enabled GPS and NFC. When I left these features on, the indicators never went away. Even worse, disabling GPS didn’t remove the icon — it only crossed it out! At least turning off NFC left me with one less icon.

Stock Android isn’t immune to this problem. An alarm clock icon appears whenever an alarm is set. If I create a recurring alarm to wake me up every weekday morning, then that alarm clock icon never goes away. A permanent unchanging icon isn’t convening any information. It’s clutter.

Because of this, I hardly ever set alarms on stock Android.

CyanogenMod 13 lets me show or hide the icons I want. I leave most of them visible, because status icons do serve a purpose. But the alarm clock icon is definitely gone. Now I’m willing to experiment with recurring alarms again. And my lockscreen still tells me that an alarm is set, so a reminder is present either way.

There are plenty of apps available that get the job done. But with CyanogenMod, there’s no need to go hunting for one. The option comes built-in. Turning it on is as easy as setting your phone to change screen brightness based on your surroundings.

CyanogenMod calls this feature LiveDisplay. It’s available as a quick toggle, but you can make further adjustments under Settings.

5. Edit Power Menu

On stock Android, the menu that appears when you hold down the power button is useless. You get one option, to turn off your device. A menu with only one choice makes no sense. If Google is set on this being how the power button works, at least turn this into a prompt instead. Are you sure you want to turn off your device?

Samsung and others keep some of Android’s old options around in the power menu. These include the ability to restart or activate airplane mode.

CyanogenMod does this too, but it also lets you pick which items go on the list. Never use airplane mode? Get rid of it. Want an option to take a screenshot rather than hold down the power and volume buttons? Add it in. Make the power menu what you want it to be.

6. Change Your Theme

Search the Play Store for an icon pack. They’re everywhere. But you need to install an alternative launcher to use any of them.

Finally got to install CM13 on my Note 3. Before installing CM13, I always installed xposed to force my phone to work the way I wanted. Now that i have CM I haven't felt much pull to reinstall xposed. So much of what I used xposed for is already built in to CM.

One thing Android should have is to hide when you draw a wrong unlock pattern. Currently there is only the option to hide the correct one but if you make a mistake, the red dots appears and somebody watching can deduct the rest of the pattern. It is like giving part of your PIN number.

Bertel is digital minimalist and creative who does all of his work using Linux and free software. Having graduated from the College of William and Mary with a background in history and government, he is as comfortable discussing digital rights and policy as he is reviewing apps.